1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bumper unit of a vehicle and a method for manufacturing the same, which can achieve a reduction in the weight of a vehicle body and satisfy vehicle collision safety requirements.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a vehicle is equipped with a bumper unit to protect the interior of a vehicle body and an indoor space from shocks applied by a head-on collision or a rear-end collision. The bumper unit includes a bumper beam provided in the width direction of the vehicle and other members for coupling with the vehicle body.
In addition, to protect the vehicle body from a collision, a high-strength material is required, and generally, a steel material is used. Moreover, the bumper beam may be formed of high-strength steel via various methods.
However, although the bumper beam formed of high-strength steel is excellent in terms of strength, the use of steel, which is a high-weight material, increases the weight of the vehicle body, and thus may be problematic in terms of deteriorated driving performance and fuel economy.
Therefore, there has been developed, for example, a bumper beam that is reduced in weight because a bumper unit is formed of a low-weight material such as, for example, a plastic material, rather than a steel material, or a bumper beam that is reduced in weight owing to a space defined therein. Various manufacturers have continuously focused effort on the development of bumper beams.
However, reducing the weight of the bumper beam by forming the bumper unit using a plastic material or by defining a space inside the bumper beam causes a considerable reduction in endurance strength in the event of a collision, resulting in performance deterioration, although use of a bumper beam made of plastic is excellent in terms of fuel economy and manufacturing costs.
The information provided in this section is merely for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that the matters form the related art already known to a person skilled in the art.